1979–80 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team
The 1979–80 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Vandals were led by second-year head coach Don Monson and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.
| 1979–80 Idaho Vandals men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Big Sky Conference |
| Record | 17–10 (9–5 Big Sky) |
| Head coach |
|
| Assistant coaches |
|
| MVP | Don Newman |
| Home arena | Kibbie Dome |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 Weber State † | 13 | – | 1 | .929 | 26 | – | 3 | .897 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 17 | – | 10 | .630 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 17 | – | 11 | .607 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 14 | – | 12 | .538 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 10 | – | 19 | .345 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho State | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 9 | – | 17 | .346 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Arizona | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 14 | – | 12 | .538 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 10 | – | 16 | .385 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After five consecutive seasons in last place in the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals were expected by most to stay there, but climbed up to second in the final standings and qualified for the four-team conference tournament for the first time.
In non-conference games, the Vandals fell to Oregon State, Washington, and neighbor Washington State, but had wins over Gonzaga, Penn State, Oregon, and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers traveled to the Kibbie Dome in early January, led by former Vandal head coach Joe Cipriano, stricken with cancer. The attendance was 5,500, the second-largest attendance for basketball on campus at the time.
Idaho lost their first three conference games in early January, then won nine of eleven to end the regular season at 9–5 and 17–9 overall. An NIT invitation was likely if they won their first game of the Big Sky tourney at Ogden, Utah (and an NCAA tourney berth with two wins).
The Vandals met Montana in the semifinals, whom they had swept in the regular season, but lost the third meeting on the neutral court. Sensing that Montana was a less formidable opponent in the finals for host Weber State, the Ogden fans sided with Montana and the Grizzlies outscored the Vandals 16–2 in the final five minutes and won by ten points. The loss in the semifinals cost them an NIT bid; Idaho missed the postseason and finished at 17–10. It was their best season in seventeen years since Gus Johnson packed Northwest gyms and led the Vandals to a 20–6 record in 1963, Cipriano's final season as head coach.
The overtime loss to Boise State on January 12 was the last home defeat for the Vandals for over three years, until February 1983.